So now that the country superstar has come out of retirement, announcing a residency performance slot at Las Vegas’ Wynn Encore Resort, what will un-retirement look like for the top-selling solo artist in U.S. history?

“What people are going to expect from us is 110 miles an hour tomorrow, and the truth is, if we ever do tour again, if we ever do make new music again, it’s still going to be another five years,” Brooks said at a Thursday morning press conference at Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry House.

After all, his youngest daughter, Allie Colleen, is 13. The country music superstar — who is married to country star Trisha Yearwood and has three daughters — announced his retirement in 2000 to be more present for his family.
Luring him back into regular performance has taken some persuasion and an undisclosed amount of compensation for the Las Vegas resort.

“I told him he couldn't afford me. I was wrong,” Brooks said, drawing a huge laugh during a Thursday-afternoon Las Vegas press conference with Steve Wynn, chairman and CEO of Wynn Resorts.

Brooks, known for doing many things in grand fashion, announced his news on Thursday with two press conferences in two states, starting in Nashville and then flying with reporters to Las Vegas to do another event with Wynn.

Wynn said, “I must confess, I had to buy him a jet plane.” The purchase was made to allow Brooks to travel back and forth to Oklahoma easily to spend time with his family — he doesn't even have an excuse to miss church, Brooks said.

“When Steve Wynn approached me about playing, he did something different than anybody else had,” Brooks said. “He didn’t throw money at me. He heard my story about my family, how me and Miss Yearwood every day along with Sandy (Brooks’ ex-wife) work with those three girls who are now 17, 15 and 13, and take them to school every day, soccer games, practice, all that stuff. And he started in from that way. He said, ‘How do we make this happen?’ And he’s taken care of my children, he’s taken care of my wife, he’s taken care of Sandy really, really well in the fact that my life is not going to change for the next five years — except I’m going to get to play music.”

Brooks and Wynn disagreed on who asked whom to take a look at the theater, but Brooks decided to perform an unannounced concert there in June. Wynn said he was amazed by Garth’s onstage connection with the crowd. “I’d never seen anyone walk on stage and create love in real time with an audience,” he said.

The next thing Brooks knew, he had been performing more than two hours.

Brooks said that after that show, “Steve Wynn, I can tell he’s looking at me, I know this is what he’s going to want. And he came (backstage) and sure enough. I said, ‘Well, I’ll dress up.’ He says, ‘No, no. ball cap, sweats…” I’m like, ‘Are you kidding me?’ He wants it exactly the way it was. I don’t know if you can pull that magic off, because it was a really magical evening.

“But when you think about it, it kind of makes sense. I can’t compete with the big-ness of Vegas. Our show’s built more for an arena. So the only way I’m going to compete in this town is to flip it all the way back 180 degrees, and suck everything down, get it real intimate, real sparse, where there’s nothing between me and you except the music.”

The first shows in Garth Brooks’ series will be December 11-13, and the weekend-only shows will continue for 15 weeks a year. They hope to continue the shows for the next five years, though Brooks says he has the option to stop at any time as long as he finishes his announced performances.

Brooks, country’s all-time top-selling artist, said Yearwood would be part of the show occasionally, and that he would have other guests.

Otherwise, it’s a one-man show for the man known for major productions.

“It allows me to start finding out who I am at this age. I’m 47. It allows me find out what music I want to make at this age," Brooks said after the Las Vegas announcement.

“That’s what (this show) is going to do. A lot of how much of it is exposed here will depend on how much of these shows don’t show up on YouTube or anything like that. The more intimate and the more it seems to stay in the building, I think the more freedom we’ll all have with ‘Hey, I was writing something on the way here. I’m going to play you a little bit of it.’ Not to ever compare the two, but if I’m at a concert and James Taylor says, ‘Hey, I was writing something and I’m going to play you a little bit of it,’ I think I would die. I think that’s the relationship you want to start building, and if we could build some trust among each other, there’s some wild things that could go on in that room.”

Earlier in the day in Nashville, Brooks said that ending his retirement would mean that he has the freedom “to just go do whatever I want, and not have to worry about who I’m disappointing or what rules I’m sticking to.”

But fans hoping for the tour or a new album will have to wait a while.

“To record an album, I know, living (in Nashville), it took us six months to record an album,” said Brooks. “I can’t imagine what it would take not living here and coming back and forth. … As far as a tour, you know me, man. If I can’t eat it, sleep it, breathe it, then it ain’t me. So I don’t see that happening.”

ABOUT THE SHOW

Confirmed dates for Garth Brooks’ series at the Wynn Encore Resort are December 11-13; January 1-3 and 22-24; February 12-14 and 26-28. Concert times are 8 p.m. Fridays; 8 and 10:30 p.m. Saturdays; and 8 p.m. Sundays.

Tickets for the one-man show will be $125 each, plus a $5 service charge and a $13 tax for a total of $143.

Tickets for the first five weekends go on sale Saturday, Oct. 24 at 8 a.m. 10 a.m. Central, and will be sold on a first-come, first-serve basis. Safeguards will be taken against scalpers. Specific ordering procedures have been put in place, and IDs will be checked at the door to make sure they match ticket buyers. For ticket purchases: 702-770-7469, www.wynnlasvegas.com/boxoffice.